#194 Ottawa’s singing bus driver

For the past eleven years, Yves Roy has been singing as he threaded his bus through Ottawa traffic. He seems a happy sort, the kind who wakes up with a smile on his face and shares it throughout the day.

Unfortunately, some grumps complained so his supervisor told him to stop crooning to his passengers. The mayor defended the decision, telling CBC:

If we allow a driver to start singing and entertaining how do we say no to a passenger who wants to start tap-dancing or doing stand-up comedy.

A city bus driver takes a lot of abuse, drives in challenging traffic, and is expected to behave professionally, no matter what passengers say or do. My guess is that Yves Roy’s singing kept things calmer on his bus routes. The grumps probably had a more peaceful ride because of him.

That’s what some of his passengers thought, and they created a song to support him. The song, the petition, and the Facebook page may not soften management’s ban on Yves Roy’s singing, but it certainly puts a song in the good man’s heart.

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When Parker J. Palmer described his book, A Hidden Wholeness, he said it was "about tying a rope from the back door out to the barn so that we can find our way home again. When we catch sight of the soul, we can survive the blizzard without losing our hope or our way."

Hope is like that. Take hold of it here. It will help you survive life's blizzard.